Canberra’s blue trees


The ACT Government is contributing to the Blue Tree Project to smash the stigma around mental health.

The Blue Tree Project is a mental health initiative. The Project’s mission is to help spark important conversations and encourage people to speak up.

In 2023, the ACT Government launched the Blue Tree Project in the ACT by painting our first blue tree along Hindmarsh Drive in Lyons.

Painting a tree blue is a positive, non-confrontational conversation starter around the issues of mental health and suicide prevention. By spreading the paint and spreading the message ‘it’s OK to not be OK’, we can help break down the stigma that’s still largely attached to mental health.

The Blue Tree’s ethos aligns with the ACT Government’s vision for a kind, connected and informed community working together to promote and protect the mental health and wellbeing of all.

Any trees that have been painted are not living and do not contain significant habitat elements. The paint is non-toxic and an ecological survey of the trees is undertaken to ensure wildlife and any nesting birds are not disturbed.

Cultural assessments are carried out when selecting a tree to be painted to make sure the tree holds no cultural significance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Trees have been painted blue across Canberra in:

  • Lyons: along Hindmarsh Drive next to the Tuggeranong Parkway exit ramp.
  • Acton: on Clunies Ross Street between the Australian National University and Australian National Botanic Gardens.
  • Gowrie: on the corner of Ashley Drive and Statton Street.

The Blue Tree in Gowrie

in the mutter of traffic
magpie calls lilt and twine
here near the underpass

in the tremble of everyday
the rush and rhythm of its breath
tree shadows ripple
wind cool off the Brindabellas
graffiti shouts LOVE IS THE WAY

what if you don’t feel it
as you walk, cycle, drive
run, wander, work, as you rest
or shelter where you can

what if feelings fall
like leaves or thrash like
branches in the storms
a beat out of time rises
follows then leaps within

today we paint a dead tree blue
in Ngunnawal country
on the corner of Ashley and Statton
we meet to paint and talk
the blue tree gives us words to start
gives time as we paint, and people will ask
like us, why is this tree blue
why are all those trees painted blue

why might we feel like this
what can we do
how can we be?

© Sarah St Vincent Welch 2025

The Blue Tree in Lyons

the Yellow Box rattles in the wind
dead branches entwined with sky
trunk brushed in blue

at the turnoff drivers ask
why’s that tree
got a blue coat?
passengers wonder

strollers and joggers pause

ask why is blue so sad

a silence

inside

when it’s also sky and sea

why is it too hard to say

something’s really wrong?

socks paired face washed hair brushed
we make ourselves look better than we are
so no one sees our shuddering shame

my thoughts are worried leaves
in a storm
my mind is bark eaten away

my job is too much I think I’m done

how will I make money to pay my rent
let alone my debt

my family was stolen and my land

my body doesn’t feel like me

thrashing limbs I can’t stop
so scared I’ll be ripped away

I’m different to anyone I’ve ever met

they left me

I was hurt too much

where can I live
where can I be safe?

my love is not accepted

I asked for help but it’s too much

this pain has done me in
lopped branch after branch

the world has raced ahead of me
I’m lonely

people will think
why is that tree in Lyons blue?
ask have you seen that big blue tree?

people on the drive to work
to the shops to visit
kids walking home from school

don’t know what to say
might make it worse?

ask why is that tree blue?
it’s a start to find a way to say

there’s something really wrong
this feeling it’s not leaving
or I am worried about our friend

so why is that tree blue?
in the listening and speaking
here in Country
in Lyons right near Woden
in the valley near the creek
we might find a way to hear
to say

yes I’ll listen
we can try to talk
I’ll sit with you
I’ll come

Sarah St Vincent Welch © 2023

Learn more or see the full tree list on the Blue Tree Project website.

This project is an ACT Government collaboration between the Office for Mental Health and Wellbeing and City and Environment Directorate.

People painting a tree blue.

Ashley Drive tree being painted blue.

People painting a tree blue on the side of the road.

Clunie Ross Street tree being painted blue.

People in a crane painting a tree blue.

Hindmarsh Drive tree being painted blue.

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the ACT and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.

To see how we are building stronger relationships with the Traditional Custodians of the ACT view the Reconciliation Action Plan.